Drones To Provide Wi-Fi For Military

Now that it seems all things “drone” are here to stay, people are coming up with all kinds of practical uses for drones. As Techbeat recently reported, Amazon is already working on the 6th generation of their delivery drones, drones can be bought online and assembled at home, and there are already all kinds of video out there that has been captured by camera-toting drones. If drones don’t take over the world within the next hundred years, it might be considered a small miracle.

In all seriousness, though, drones offer the world services in ways that have only existed within our imaginations until now. It’s probably no surprise to most people that the military is now looking into all the different ways drones can help them, and I’m not even speaking about them being used in combat on the battlefield. It seems the military is very interested in using drones to deliver a Wi-Fi signal to their troops on the field. Everyone needs internet – especially military service men and women who are in the far reaches of the world.

A Predator drone

In what can be seen as a good case of recycling, DARPA has been taking some of the drones not used in the Iraq war and turning them into drones capable of giving internet service where it might not otherwise exist. The drones are only 11 feet long and weigh 185 pounds. It’s a challenge, of course, to install all of the needed equipment without making it too heavy to stay in the air. As of right now, the drones could stay airborne for about 9 hours before they’d need to send in a replacement. (Hopefully no one would be in the middle of a Skype call when the drone flies off).

This sounds like a great idea and an ever better use of resources. I feel this is a great use for used drones – what do you think? Let us hear your thoughts in the comments section below!

[Image via TheRogueNews]

SOURCE: http://gizmodo.com/the-military-wants-to-turn-its-drones-into-flying-wi-fi-1561799948